Jacob Dolson Cox

Cox, Jacob Dolson, 1828–1900, Union general in the Civil War and American statesman, b. Montreal, of a New York City family. Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1853, he was active in organizing the new Republican party there and served (1859–61) in the state senate. Cox, made a brigadier general of volunteers early in the Civil War, served ably in the Kanawha valley and Antietam campaigns and commanded in West Virginia (1862–63) and Ohio (Apr.–Dec., 1863). He later led a corps in the Atlanta campaign (1864), fought at Nashville (Dec., 1864), and finished his service with Sherman in North Carolina. He had risen to be a major general of volunteers and, returning home a hero, was elected governor of Ohio for the term 1866–68. Because he supported President Andrew Johnson on Reconstruction against the radical Republicans, he was not renominated. Nevertheless U. S. Grant, on assuming the presidency, made Cox his Secretary of the Interior. This was one of Grant's few good appointments. Cox, however, advocated and practiced civil service reform and opposed the President on other points, notably the move to annex Santo Domingo. The Republican spoilsmen had long been hostile to him, and in Oct., 1870, Cox resigned from the cabinet and became identified with the Liberal Republicans. He later served one term in Congress (1877–79), was dean of the Cincinnati Law School for 16 years beginning in 1881, and also served as president of the Univ. of Cincinnati from 1885 to 1889. He wrote ably on military affairs. His books include Atlanta (1882), The Battle of Franklin (1897), The March to the Sea (1898), and Military Reminiscences of the Civil War (1900). Kenyon Cox was his son.